Montel Vontavious Porter
In 2005, after a number of live events and dark matches, Porter signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). As MVP, he made his first appearance on WWE television on the August 4, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, during which announcers described him as a coveted free agent. The initial angle involved MVP appearing backstage and in arena crowds, often flanked by women and/or a bodyguard, and talking to SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long about the contract his (unseen) agent was supposedly aggressively negotiating. Throughout his segments, commentators described MVP as arrogant, noting that he would stop conversations in the middle to answer his mobile phone or admire his own jewelry while people were speaking to him. Finally, on September 26, 2006, video of a press conference announcing the signing of MVP to "the largest contract in SmackDown! history" was uploaded to WWE.com. MVP made his in-ring debut at No Mercy as a villain with a ring entrance featuring an inflatable tunnel, before defeating Marty Garner. On the following week's SmackDown!, MVP made a demand for a tougher opponent to prove his mettle, which was answered by Kane—making his SmackDown! debut. The two feuded for the next two months, with MVP narrowly scoring wins over Kane in a Street Fight and a Steel Cage match before losing to him in an Inferno match at Armageddon, from which he suffered storyline 1st degree burns. Because of the burns he was "out of action" for a short time, during which color commentator JBL expressed rage with the fans for cheering a match where the only way of achieving victory is to set an opponent on fire. When the Kane feud died down, MVP began a feud with the WWE United States Champion Chris Benoit over Benoit's title. During the build up for a title match with Benoit, MVP appeared on SmackDown! introducing various supposed champions from around the world, defeating them in squash matches. MVP lost to Benoit at WrestleMania 23 and at Backlash, but finally defeated Benoit in a Two out of three falls match at Judgment Day, with MVP taking the United States Championship, his first WWE title, in two straight falls. His first major feud as the Champion was against Matt Hardy, whom he started claiming to be better than at everything, after defeating him at the Great American Bash. When MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, it was written into the storyline, with MVP blaming the condition for his losing an arm wrestling match against Hardy. When MVP was given an interview segment during SmackDown!, the VIP Lounge, it was used to bow out of a scheduled boxing match at Saturday Night's Main Event– with Evander Holyfield replacing him, and eventually punching out MVP during the bout. On the August 24, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, MVP bragged to General Manager Theodore Long that he was so good, he could win the WWE Tag Team Championship with anybody, prompting Long to grant him a Championship match alongside the next person who entered the room, who turned out to be Matt Hardy. The following week, MVP and Hardy took the championship from Deuce 'n Domino, making MVP a double champion. MVP and Hardy's contentious relationship had them competing with each other in various ways while MVP proclaimed himself "Captain" of the team and refused to defend his United States Championship. MVP almost turned "face" because he got along better with Matt Hardy and helped Matt Hardy defeat Finlay on SmackDown. Their reign together came to an end on the November 16, 2007 episode of SmackDown after Hardy demanded a shot at the United States Championship, but MVP declined, and announced they had a Tag Team Championship defense against John Morrison and The Miz instead. They lost the match, and immediately afterwards, MVP invoked the rematch clause, but they lost that match as well. MVP then attacked Hardy, targeting his knee, which in storyline had been injured during the matches, and put him "out of action". Hardy suffered a legitimate ruptured appendix while he was off television, putting their feud on hold. While Hardy recovered, MVP engaged in short feuds with Rey Mysterio and Ric Flair. He participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV, and during the match, Hardy made an unannounced return and knocked MVP from the ladder with his signature Twist of Fate maneuver, reigniting their feud. At Backlash in 2008, MVP dropped the title to Hardy, ending his record reign at 343 days, which was the longest reign of the WWE era. Beginning on the August 29, 2008 episode of SmackDown, MVP developed a losing streak that lasted over five months, losing in both singles and tag team matches. At Unforgiven, he challenged for the WWE Championship in the Championship Scramble match, but was unsuccessful. The losing streak meant that, in storyline, MVP did not receive "his contract incentive bonus", and also was no longer allowed his usual entrance with the inflatable tunnel. During this losing streak he had a short feud with The Great Khali. On the January 16, 2009 episode of SmackDown, MVP finally broke the losing streak by defeating Big Show in a Last Man Standing match with help from Triple H, as he was fighting to ensure that Triple H would be allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble match, in the process turning him into a fan favorite. At the SmackDown taping on March 17, he won the United States Championship for the second time by defeating Shelton Benjamin. At WrestleMania XXV, MVP competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second year in a row, but failed to win. On April 13, 2009, MVP was drafted as the first overall pick to the Raw brand as a part of the 2009 WWE Draft. As a result of being the reigning WWE United States Champion, he transferred the title to Raw for the first time in history. He lost the title to Kofi Kingston on the June 1 episode of Raw. He then formed a tag team with Mark Henry, and they challenged Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship at the Breaking Point pay-per-view, but they failed to win the championship. After beginning a feud with The Miz, MVP faced him for the WWE United States Championship at Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, but was unable to win. After this preliminary title retention, both also participated in the Rumble itself. MVP entered 14th and was surprise-attacked by Miz (who was not yet an official entrant) who hit him with the US belt. MVP later recovered and entered the match (having not been eliminated) to double-eliminate both himself and Miz. MVP challenged The Miz for the title a second time at the February 21 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view but was once again unable to win. He also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI, but was unable to win. As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft, MVP was drafted back to the SmackDown brand. He made his SmackDown return on the April 30 episode, interrupting CM Punk's promo, and later teaming up with Rey Mysterio to defeat Punk and Luke Gallows. On June 1, MVP was announced as the mentor of Percy Watson for the second season of WWE NXT; Watson was eliminated from the competition on August 17, finishing fifth overall. On the November 5 episode of SmackDown, MVP fought in a Triple Threat Match for the number one contendership of Dolph Ziggler's Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The match was won by MVP, and the championship match was set for the following week's SmackDown, but MVP was unsuccessful in winning the title. MVP was announced as part of Team Mysterio, teaming with Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, Chris Masters and Kofi Kingston to take on Team Del Rio (Alberto Del Rio, Tyler Reks, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes) at Survivor Series. At the pay-per-view, MVP was the first man eliminated in the match by McIntyre, who was aided by Del Rio holding MVP's foot down so he couldn't kick out. MVP's last match with the WWE aired on December 3, a day after his announced release, teaming with Kaval in a losing effort against Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler; afterward, he and Kaval were attacked by Kane. On December 2, 2010, Porter was granted a release from his WWE contract. Category:WWE Tag Team Champions Category:United States Champions Category:Current Alumni